This long weekend could be a great time to have a backyard fire and roast some marshmallows or have some hot dogs.
Dauphin Fire Chief Cam Abrey says backyard fire pits are allowed, but there are guidelines.
“Regarding the size of them, the fact that you have to have a screen over top, and that you’re only allowed to burn dry, seasoned firewood. The purpose being, that wood produces much less smoke. We understand that everyone wants to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors that we have here in our area.”
Abrey has some safety tips and more guidelines to keep in mind when having a backyard fire.
“It does have to be enclosed, you can’t just make a fire on the ground, so you have to have an approved fire pit, little fire bowls, chimineas, the bricks that are available from different retailers as well, and of course a screen over top to dampen the sparks from flying. Don’t let your fires get too big and the flames should not be any higher than a foot above the top of the grill. It can never be left unattended, so you have to have a means of extinguishment available as well whether that’s a pail of water, a garden hose, or a pail of sand, something to put it out. So at the end of the night you don’t just let the fire burn out, you extinguish it completely.”
Abrey also notes the wind can be unpredictable and could carry sparks to a neighbour’s yard.
The fire pit can’t be any closer than 10 feet to any kind of fence or structure.
The Dauphin Fire Department has received a number of complaints related to backyard fires.
Abrey says typically every spring and fall, they receive an increase in complaints about smoke in the neighbourhood.
“When we follow up on these calls we find that people are typically burning leaves, grass clippings, or branches because they’re trying to clean up the yard. So, we really don’t like to write fines for this stuff, we try to educate the property owners or the tenants and the green bins that are available from the City of Dauphin free of charge, that’s what those are for.”
Abrey encourages residents to use the green bins or take compost materials to the waste disposal site northwest of Dauphin instead of burning in their neighbourhoods. It can make people’s allergies act up and smoke gets into homes, especially now that it’s nice out and people open up their windows.
Abrey asks that if your neighbours complain about the smoke, to please extinguish it because you don’t know how the smoke will affect them.
If your neighbour is having a fire and there’s an issue, Abrey says the first step is to talk to them about the issue before calling the fire department.
Call amounts relating to backyard fire pits vary year by year, some years it can be around 10 calls, while others get to 30. The majority of the complaints are from people burning yard waste.
If you have any questions about the guidelines, click here.
